{"nrhp_refnum":"73001234","name":"Central New York Telephone and Telegraph Building","other_names":["Historical Building"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"311 Montgomery St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Syracuse","county":"Onondaga County","state":"NY","lat":43.048418586000025,"lon":-76.14885890699998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1973-04-03","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Communications"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A five-story brick commercial building at 311 Montgomery Street in Syracuse, Onondaga County, New York, built 1895-1896 for the Central N.Y. Telephone & Telegraph Co. and designed by architect Henry W. Wilkinson.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it the first building erected for a telephone company in the central New York area. It also houses one of the oldest local historical societies in the nation. Its front is argued to illustrate an important Italian Renaissance-derived style that is rare for its period in the Syracuse area.","narrative":"Built between June 1895 and November 1896, this five-story brick building at 311 Montgomery Street in Syracuse was made for the Central N.Y. Telephone & Telegraph Co. It was the first building in the central New York area erected for a telephone company's use, though the equipment did not begin operating until January 1899. The company outgrew it and moved to a newer building nearby in 1906. Architect Henry W. Wilkinson designed the west front with a buff brick base, a two-story triple window, terra cotta ornament and a Corinthian cornice. The details draw on North Italian Early Renaissance models and resemble commercial buildings of the 1890s in Boston and New York. Inside, the original open-cage elevator from 1896 and a cast-steel stair around an iron conduit for telephone wires survive. The Onondaga Historical Association bought the building in 1905 and has occupied it since 1906, using it as a museum.","period_of_significance":"19th Century (built 1895-1896)","architect_builder":"Henry W. Wilkinson (architect)","architectural_style":"Italian Early Renaissance-derived commercial style of the 1890s","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed in good condition, occupied, and used as a museum; owned by the Onondaga Historical Association, which has occupied it since 1906.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:39.114677-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/73001234.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73001234/b0a24d4841-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73001234/b0a24d4841-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Crazyale","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CNY_TT_Building.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Crazyale</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CNY_TT_Building.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75320316","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_New_York_Telephone_and_Telegraph_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5061516"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/onondaga-county/central-new-york-telephone-and-telegraph-building-73001234/"}